BOSTON -- When Celtics guard Eddie House tipped the ball away from Minnesota's Ramon Sessions during Sunday night's win over the Timberwolves, coach Doc Rivers didn't think he was athletic enough to chase down the ball as it headed toward the scorer's table near midcourt.

Not only did House split Sessions and Kevin Love, while tracking down the ball, but he made a jaw-dropping, behind-the-back save that hit a streaking Tony Allen in stride at the opposite 3-point arc. Allen went hard to the hoop and threw down a one-handed jam over Corey Brewer, drawing a foul in the process, as the Celtics' lead ballooned to 38-21 with 11:17 to play in the second quarter.

"Well, first of all I didn’t think [House] was athletic enough to get to the ball," said Rivers. "So the fact that he got to the ball, I was shocked. And then he made a play once he got to the ball -- it was pretty spectacular. It was great. I was happy because it was a great defensive play.”

Allen, who registered season-highs with 15 points (5-of-8 shooting) and 24 minutes, couldn't believe how the play unfolded, either.

"That was random -- a transition play, Eddie got a tip on the ball, defensively, chased it down to me and I was just running the lane for the fast break and we got the bucket," explained Allen, who said he initially didn't intend to go for the jam.

"Actually, I kind of surprised myself. I wanted to lay it up and I saw [Brewer] running so hard, so I just finished, had to finish.”

Sessions shouldered the blame for the play and said Brewer had no choice but to try to defend the cylinder.

"That’s brutal, but he’s going to challenge that," said Sessions. "That’s the type of player he is, he’s a hard player and he was going to challenge that. He gets some of those and you've got to live with the dunks, when they dunk on you."